Tina wiped her brow with the back of her wrist, then hunched over again to resume her work. She was bending over the kitchen counter, and in front of her stood a small cake. The clock read 7:02 in the morning, and she spared it a glance before hurriedly returning to the cake. She had a frosting pouch clutched between her hands, and she squeezed it effortfully. The frosting that came out was uneven and lumpy, and Tina frowned as scrutinized it.
Today, February 24th, was Newt's birthday. Tina'd had no idea what to get him, so instead she'd woken up extra early to bake him a cake from scratch. It wasn't a large cake; in fact, it was on the small side. Maybe only six inches or so in diameter, but she had tried her best to decorate it meaningfully. Not elaborately, but certainly meaningfully. Or so she hoped.
Tina straightened up, and set the frosting pouch down. She daren't use magic to decorate it, as she had never really practiced these sort of charms. She wished that Queenie were here to help her, as this field was her specialty. Jacob's help would be nice too, seeing as he was a baker.
Tina wiped her hands on her apron, which was speckled with flecks of batter and icing. She ignored it, and stepped back to admire the cake in its full glory. It was plain vanilla, but on top of the cake, a scene decorated it. It was of Newt's case, and the creatures inside it.
In one corner was Frank the Thunderbird, and at the bottom were the Occamies, with Dougal off to the side. A Thestral soared through the air, and Tina had frosted a tiny, blurred version of herself sitting on top of it. In another section, a figure of Newt stood with what looked like a green stick in his hand, which was actually Pickett. In another corner was his shed, and Tina and Queenie were in front of it, singing the Ilvermorny school song. Newt and Jacob were sitting at a bench and chuckling and clapping good-naturedly.
Tina felt pleased with herself, even though the artwork wasn't the best. The frosting lines were wobbly and smudged, and the images looked blurred and vague, but she thought Newt would be able to tell what it was. She felt strange, as she had never really bothered with complicated decorations before. However, she also felt oddly satisfied.
A soft, sleepy set of shuffling footsteps made her head jerk up alarmingly. Her breath caught, and a sudden wave of worries swept rapidly through her. What if he didn't like cake? What if he was allergic? And worst of all, what if he hated the design, or thought that it was stupid?
Tina squirmed nervously, and waited for Newt to enter the kitchen. She stilled as he lumbered into sight, and anxiously fixed her gaze on him. He rubbed his eyes and yawned, stretching his arms above his head.
"Morning," Tina said hesitantly.
"G'morning," he mumbled.
Newt didn't seem to realize that it was his birthday. He blinked blearily, and blinked some more as his gaze fell upon the birthday cake. His brow furrowed in confusion, and he looked questioningly at Tina.
"Happy birthday," she said, awkwardly spreading her arms open.
Newt stared at her for several moments, and and his mouth fell open in surprise. Tina became uncomfortably aware that she had a spot of frosting on the tip of her nose, and that her cheeks were dusted in flour. Her apron was caked in batter and icing, and her hair had sugar in it.
"I...I wasn't expecting anything..." Newt murmured, his gaze darting from the cake to Tina.
Tina glanced at the cake again, and deflated. Suddenly it seemed childlish and messy, as though a toddler had scribbled with crayons across the surface. She cringed inwardly, and wished that she had just gotten Newt a present instead.
"I'm sorry," she apologized. "I shouldn't have tried to make a cake – you probably don't even like cake anyway. I just thought that...I don't know what I was thinking."
"No, I didn't mean it that way," Newt said hastily. "I just wasn't expecting anything, that's all."
He went over and gazed thoughtfully at the cake, his eyes widening slightly as he took in the detail and realized what the scenes were depicting. A soft, wistful smile spread across his face as he spotted Tina on the Thestral, and he laughed when he saw Pickett.
"It's brilliant," he said, looking thoughtfully at it.
"I should have just gotten you a present or something like that, but I had no idea what to buy – so I just..." she gestured feebly at the cake.
"I wasn't even expecting anything. It's great to have this, really," Newt assured.
Tina cracked an uncertain smile at him, and he returned it. "Well, happy birthday then," she repeated awkwardly.
Newt leaned over the cake again to observe the scene, and she thought that his eyes lingered on the ones of the Thestral and the shed, and he smiled more when his gaze landed on Tina.
"Thank you," he murmured appreciatively.
"It was no problem," Tina said. This was somewhat of a lie, it certainly wasn't a hassle, but she'd had to get up quite early and had made a rather undignified mess, too.
"Beats what my mum got me," Newt said, shaking his head.
"What did your mom get you?" Tina asked curiously.
Newt looked away for a moment, and blushed, apparently embarrassed. "Nothing," he mumbled quickly. "It's stupid."
"Tell me," she urged, now even more curious.
Newt hesitated, then said, "I'd best just show you."
He left the room, and returned seconds later with a very bedraggled teddy bear dangling from his hands. It looked limp, and its head nodded permanently. It'd been stitched and patched multiple times, and stuffing burst out from a leg. The fur looked old and worn, but the overall teddy bear was still rather adorable.
"This," Newt said with a note of embarrassment in his voice, and he held his teddy bear up. "Is Mr. Nibbles."
Tina couldn't help but giggle, and shook her head. "Mr. Nibbles?" she echoed through her laughter.
"I was four when I named him," Newt said defensively. "Anyway, my mum sent this by owl today. She said she dug it out of the attic, but knowing her, she probably kept it on a shelf and dusted it everyday."
"Can I hold him?" she requested.
Newt handed her the teddy bear, or Mr. Nibbles, as he was called, and Tina carefully took it in her arms. It felt surprisingly soft and fluffy, and its eyes shone with a bright and playful light. The classic smile was on its muzzle, below a triangular brown nose.
"He's cute," Tina said, smilingly down at the bear.
"If you say so," Newt shrugged, seemingly careless.
"Oh come on," the brunette insisted, rolling her eyes. "You know he is. You just don't want to admit it because you're an adult."
"I do not!" he protested indignantly.
"Yes, you do."
"Do not."
"Do too."
"Do not."
"So you wouldn't care if I just...threw him out the window?" Tina casually wandered over to a nearby window and rested a hand on it, ready to push it open.
Newt's green eyes flew open with alarm, and he brought his hands up in surrender. "All right, he's still rather adorable! Just – just come back here, please? Away from the window, with the bear?"
Tina smirked triumphantly, and strolled back over to Newt. She handed him Mr. Nibbles, and said reassuringly, "I wasn't actually going to throw him outside. He's too nice for that."
"Well, good," he said grudgingly, though he was smiling.
Hoppy, their pet Kneazle, suddenly trotted into the kitchen, his yellow tail lifted high in the hair and waving back and forth. His green eyes sparkled when he saw the teddy bear, and he raced across the floor to leap at it.
"No, don't!" Newt exclaimed, jerking Mr. Nibbles out of harm's way. "This isn't a toy."
Hoppy jumped playfully again, swatting at the teddy bear, but it was too high for him. He meowed plaintively and tried again, still missing his prize. He landed back onto the floor with a dejected thump.
"That's Mr. Nibbles, Hoppy. If you want to play, you can go find a piece of string, okay?" Tina consoled, bending down to pat the Kneazle on the head.
"Yes," Newt agreed, also petting Hoppy. "Or go find Mauler or Milly, they'll play with you."
The Kneazle seemed to understand them, and purred before bounding away into the living room, no doubt in pursuit of his littermates. Newt watched him before lowering Mr. Nibbles to a more comfortable position.
"Protective of your bear, aren't you?" Tina teased.
"I'm protective of other people, too," Newt responded, and his green gaze locked onto hers.
Tina stared at him, trying to comprehend what he meant. I'm protective of other people, too. He was most likely referring to his creatures, or his family. Or maybe...could he possibly have been talking about her?
"Me, too," she replied quietly.
An image of Credence first flashed into her mind as she said these words, but it was soon followed by Newt. She remembered the day that he had been viciously attacked by his Nundu, and she shivered.
"Thats – that's erm, nice," Newt said awkwardly.
"Uh-huh," she said lamely. "Nice."
They both blushed furiously, and meekly avoided each other's eyes for the moment being. Tina felt embarrassment pumping through her from head to toe, and she wished not for the first time that she was able to say more sensible things in Newt's presence.
"Thank you for the cake," Newt said once again, breaking the buzzing silence between them. "It's...beautiful."
"You honestly like it?" Tina asked disbelievingly.
In her perspective, the cake had seemed like a good idea at first, but the finished result was morphed and not at all what she had in mind. She cringed inwardly as she looked at it, and wondered whether Newt was just saying it to be nice. But then again, Newt only said things when he meant them.
"Wholly," he answered.
He hesitated for a split second, then added hurriedly, "Especially the one with you on the Thestral. It's um – it's one of my favourite memories."
His sentence was mumbled, and his cheeks flushed pink as he broke off and swallowed nervously. Tina was taken aback, as she had expected him to like the ones with Frank or Pickett the most, certainly not the one that she was in.
"Oh," she said, blinking surprisedly. "Thanks. I – I appreciate it."
"Yes erm – well, you make things wonderful. And I don't just mean things like cake. I mean things like my day, for example. You make it tremendously wonderful," he mumbled, blushing even harder now.
Tina's eyes widened, and she received another blow of surprise. I...make his day wonderful?
"Well, you're not so bad yourself," she replied, her face heating up. "I – you make my day, too."
Newt looked up at her, startled. He blinked several times, then seemed to accept what he had just heard was real. A grin flitted across his features, lighting up his face.
"Then I guess we can both look forward to a marvelous day today."